Management of a distributed fabric system

ABSTRACT

A distributed fabric system has distributed line card (DLC) chassis and scaled-out fabric coupler (SFC) chassis. Each DLC includes a network processor and fabric ports. Each network processor includes a fabric interface in communication with the fabric ports of that DLC. Each SFC includes at least one fabric element and SFC fabric ports. A fabric communication link connects each SFC fabric port to one DLC fabric port. Each fabric communication link includes cell-carrying lanes. Each fabric element detects connectivity between each SFC fabric port of that SFC and one DLC fabric port over a fabric communication link. Each SFC reads a connectivity matrix from fabric element chips and sends connection information corresponding to the detected connectivity from that SFC to a central agent. A network element includes the central agent, which, when executed, constructs a topology of the distributed fabric system from the connection information sent from each SFC.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application claiming priority to andthe benefit of the filing date of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/414,677, filed Mar. 7, 2012, titled “Management of a DistributedFabric System,” the contents of which are incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to data centers and data processing.More particularly, the invention relates to management of a distributedfabric system.

BACKGROUND

Data centers are generally centralized facilities that provide Internetand intranet services needed to support businesses and organizations. Atypical data center can house various types of electronic equipment,such as computers, servers (e.g., email servers, proxy servers, and DNSservers), switches, routers, data storage devices, and other associatedcomponents. The infrastructure of the data center, specifically, thelayers of switches in the switch fabric, plays a central role in thesupport of the services. Implementations of data centers can havehundreds and thousands of switch chassis, and the interconnections amongthe various chassis can be complex and difficult to follow. Moreover,the numerous and intricate interconnections among the various chassiscan make problems arising in the data center formidable to troubleshoot.

SUMMARY

The invention features a method for managing a distributed fabric systemin which a plurality of scaled-out fabric coupler (SFC) chassis isconnected to a plurality of distributed line card (DLC) chassis overfabric communication links. The method comprises detecting, by a fabricelement chip of each SFC chassis, connectivity between the fabricelement chip of that SFC chassis and a fabric interface of a switchingchip of one or more of the DLC chassis. In response to the detectedconnectivity, connection information is stored in memory for each fabriccommunication link between the fabric element chip of that SFC and afabric interface of a switching chip of the one or more of the DLCchassis. The memory is accessed to acquire the connection informationfor each fabric communication link. A topology of the distributed fabricsystem is constructed from the acquired connection information for eachcommunication link.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and further advantages of this invention may be betterunderstood by referring to the following description in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which like numerals indicate likestructural elements and features in various figures. The drawings arenot necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed uponillustrating the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is an embodiment of a networking environment including a datacenter, a server, and a management station.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a distributedfabric system having a plurality of scaled-out fabric couplers (SFC)chassis interconnected with a plurality of distributed line card (DLC)chassis.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an SFC chassis having a localsoftware agent for collecting topology and/or statistics.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a DLC chassisincluding two network processors, each with a fabric interface.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment ofinterconnections between the fabric interfaces of the two networkprocessors and CXP/PHYs of a two-switch DLC chassis.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a DLC chassis having a localsoftware agent and, optionally, a central software agent, the localsoftware agent collecting performance statistics, and the centralsoftware agent collecting topology and/or statistics information for allSFCs and DLCs in the distributed fabric system.

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B comprise a flow diagram of a process for building atopology of the distributed fabric system, for collecting statisticsrelated to the operation of the distributed fabric system, and fordisplaying the topology and/or the statistics in a user interface.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example topology for a simplifieddistributed fabric system.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of an example of a graphical view of a link leveldiagnostics that can be produced by an SFC and a DLC.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Distributed fabric systems described herein include independentscaled-out fabric coupler (SFC) chassis in communication with aplurality of independent distributed line card (DLC) chassis. The SFCchassis have one or more cell-based fabric element chips thatcommunicate through SFC fabric ports over fabric communication linkswith fabric interfaces of the switching chips on the DLC chassis. Byreachability messaging, each fabric element chip can detect connectivitybetween an SFC fabric port and a DLC fabric interface, and can do sowith high frequency. Advantageously, the applicants recognized that suchconnectivity information can form the basis of constructing anddisplaying a topology of the distributed fabric system. From amanagement station, a network administrator can display this topologygraphically, and enhance the topological graph with other informationabout the communication links, such as link bandwidth and link status.The graphical form of the topology gives the network administrator anencompassing view of the distributed fabric system and a portal throughwhich to manage and modify the topology, for example, by configuring thestatus of the individual communication links.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a networking environment 2 including adata center 10 in communication with a management station 4 and a server6 over a network 8. Embodiments of the network 8 include, but are notlimited to, local-area networks (LAN), metro-area networks (MAN), andwide-area networks (WAN), such as the Internet or World Wide Web. Thedata center 10 is generally a facility that houses various computers,routers, switches, and other associated equipment in support ofapplications and data that are integral to the operation of a business,organization, or other entities.

The data center 10 includes an SFC chassis 12 in communication withnetwork elements 14, referred to herein as distributed line cards (DLCs)14. The SFC chassis 12 and DLCs 14 together form a distributed fabricsystem and correspond to a single cell-switched domain. Although fourDLC chassis 14 only are shown, the number of DLC chassis in thecell-switched domain can range in the hundreds and thousands. The DLCs14 are members of a designated cluster. The data center 10 can have morethan one cluster, although each DLC can be the member of one clusteronly. The data center 10 may be embodied at a single site or distributedamong multiple sites. Although shown outside of the data center 10,either (or both) of the management station 4 and server 6 may beconsidered part of the data center 10.

In the data center 10, the functionality occurs on three planes: amanagement plane, a control plane, and a data plane. The management ofthe cluster, such as configuration management, runtime configurationmanagement, presentation of information (show and display), graphgeneration, and handling SNMP requests, occurs on the management plane.The control plane is associated with those functions involving networksignaling and control protocols. The data plane manages data flow. Inthe data center 10, the functionality of the management plane and of thecontrol plane is centralized, the management plane and control planebeing implemented predominately at the server 6, and the functionalityof the data plane is distributed among the DLCs 14 and SFCs 12.

The management station 4 provides a centralized point of administrationfor managing and controlling the networked switches 12, 14 and thecontroller 6 of the distributed fabric system. Through the managementstation 4, a user or network administrator of the data center 10communicates with the controller 6 in order to manage the cluster, withconceivably hundreds of DLCs, tens of SFCs, and one or more controllers,from a single location. A graphical user interface (GUI) applicationexecuting on the management station 4 serves to provide the networkadministrator with a view of the entire network topology of thedistributed fabric system. An example of such a GUI application is BladeHarmony Manager® provided by IBM Corporation of Armonk, N.Y. In brief,the GUI-based application can use the information collected by thefabric element chips of the SFCs to represent an entire distributedfabric system topology in graphical form, as described in more detailbelow.

In addition, the management station 4 can connect directly(point-to-point) or indirectly to a given DLC 14 of the data center 10over one of a variety of connections, such as standard telephone lines,digital subscriber line (DSL), asynchronous DSL, LAN or WAN links (e.g.,T1, T3), broadband connections (Frame Relay, ATM), and wirelessconnections (e.g., 802.11(a), 802.11(b), 802.11(g), 802.11(n)). Using anetwork protocol, such as Telnet or SNMP (Simple Network ManagementProtocol), the management station 4 can access a command-line interface(CLI) of the control plane server 6 of the whole system for purposes ofmanaging the distributed fabric system and accessing the topology andstatistical information collected by the various network switches, asdescribed in more detail below.

In general, the server 6 is a computer (or group of computers) thatprovides one or more services to the data center 10, examples of whichinclude, but are not limited to, email servers, proxy servers, DNSservers, and a control server running the control plane of thedistributed fabric system. To support the control plane functionality ofan entire DLC cluster, the server 6 is configured with sufficientprocessing power (e.g., with multiple processor cores).

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a distributed fabric system having aplurality of independent SFC chassis 12-1, 12-2, 12-3, and 12-4(generally, 12) in communication with a plurality of independent DLCchassis or boxes 14-1, 14-2, 14-N (generally, 14). This exampleembodiment has four SFC chassis 12 and N DLC chassis 14. The SFCs 12 andDLCs 14 are part of a single cell-based switched domain.

Each SFC chassis 12 includes one or more cell-based switch fabricelements (FE) 16 in communication with N SFC fabric ports 18. In thisexample embodiment, there are at least as many DLC chassis 14 as SFCfabric ports 18 in each SFC chassis 12 in the distributed fabric system.Each fabric element 16 of an SFC chassis 12 switches cells between SFCfabric ports 18 based on destination information in the cell header.

Each DLC chassis 14 has network ports 20, network processors 22-1, 22-2(also called switching chips), and fabric ports 24. In general, networkprocessors 22 are optimized for packet processing. Each networkprocessor 22 is in communication with every fabric port 24 and with asubset of the network ports 20 (for example, each network processor 22can switch cells derived from packet traffic received on half thenetwork ports of the DLC). An example implementation of the networkprocessor 24 is the BCM 88650, a 28-port, 10 GbE switch device producedby Broadcom, of Irvine, Calif. The network ports 20 are in communicationwith the network 8 external to the switched domain, such as theInternet. In one embodiment, each DLC chassis 14 has forty network ports20, with each of the network ports 20 being configured as a 10 GbpsEthernet port. The aggregate network bandwidth of the DLC chassis 14 is400 Gbps.

The distributed fabric system in FIG. 2 has a full-mesh configuration:each DLC 14 is in communication with each of the SFCs 12 over; morespecifically, each of the fabric ports 24 of a given DLC chassis 14 isin electrical communication with a fabric port 44 of a different one ofthe SFCs 12 over a fabric communication link 26. Referring to the DLC14-1 as a representative example, the DLC fabric port 24-1 of the DLC14-1 is in communication with the fabric port 18-1 of the SFC 12-1, theDLC fabric port 24-2 is in communication with the fabric port 18-1 ofthe SFC 12-2, the DLC fabric port 24-3 is in communication with thefabric port 18-1 of the SFC 12-3, and the DLC fabric port 24-4 is incommunication with the fabric port 18-1 of the SFC 12-4. Connected inthis full-mesh configuration, the DLCs and SFCs form a distributedvirtual chassis, with the DLCs acting as line cards. The distributedvirtual chassis is virtually a modular chassis; that is, DLCs 14 can beadded to or removed from the distributed virtual chassis, one at a time,just like line cards added to or removed from a physical chassis. Thefull-mesh configuration is but one example of a distributed fabricsystem architecture. Other types of configurations in which to connectthe DLCs and SFCs include, but are not limited to, daisy chains and starformations.

The communication link 26 between each DLC fabric port 24 and an SFCfabric port 18 can be a wired connection. Interconnect variants includeDirect Attached Cable (DAC) or optical cable. DAC provides five to sevenmeters of cable length; whereas the optical cable offers up to 100meters of connectivity within the data center, (standard opticalconnectivity can exceed 10 km). Alternatively, the communication link 26can be a direct physical connection (i.e., electrical connectors of theDLC fabric ports 24 physically connect directly to electrical connectorsof the SFC fabric ports 18). In one embodiment, each communication linksupports 12 SerDes (serializer/deserializer) channels (each channelbeing comprised of a transmit lane and a receive lane).

During operation of this distributed fabric system, a packet arrives ata network port 20 of one of the DLCs 14. The network processor 22extracts required information from the packet header and payload to formpre-classification metadata. Using this metadata, the network processor22 performs table look-ups to find the physical destination port forthis packet and other associated actions. With these results andmetadata, the network processor 22 creates and appends a proprietaryheader to the front of the packet. The network processor 22 of the DLC14 in communication with the network port 20 partitions the whole packetincluding the proprietary header into smaller cells, and adds a cellheader (used in ordering of cells) to each cell. The network processor22 sends the cells out through the DLC fabric ports 24 to each of theSFCs 12, sending different cells to different SFCs 12. For example,consider an incoming packet with a length of 1600 bits. The receivingnetwork processor 22 of the DLC 14 can split the packet into four cellsof 400 bits (before adding header information to those cells). Thenetwork processor 22 then sends a different cell to each of the fourSFCs 12, in effect, achieving a load balancing of the cells across theSFCs 12.

A cell-based switch fabric element 16 of each SFC 12 receiving a cellexamines the header of that cell, determines its destination, and sendsthe cell out through the appropriate one of the fabric ports 18 of thatSFC to the destination DLC 14. The destination DLC 14 receives all cellsrelated to the original packet from the SFCs, reassembles the originalpacket (i.e., removing the added headers, combining cells), and sendsthe reassembled packet out through the appropriate one of its networkports 20. Continuing with the previous four-cell example, consider thateach SFC determines that the destination DLC is DLC 14-2. Each SFC 12sends its cell out through its fabric port 18-2 to the DLC 14-2. The DLC14-2 reassembles the packet from the four received cells (the addedheaders providing an order in which to combine the cells) and sends thepacket out of the appropriate network port 20. The pre-classificationheader information in the cells determines the appropriate network port.

The full-mesh configuration of FIG. 2, having the four SFC chassis 12,can be a full-line rate configuration, that is, the aggregate bandwidthfor transmitting cells from a given DLC to the SFCs (i.e., 480 Gbps) isgreater than the aggregate bandwidth of packets arriving at the givenDLC on the network ports 20 (i.e., 400 Gbps). The configuration can alsobe adapted to support various oversubscription permutations for DLCs 14.For example, instead of having four SFCs, the distributed virtualchassis may have only two SFC chassis (e.g., 12-1, 12-2), with each DLC14 using only two fabric ports 24 for communicating with the SFC chassis12, one fabric port 24 for each of the SFC chassis 12. This permutationof oversubscription has, for example, each DLC on its network side withan aggregate ingress 400 Gbps bandwidth (forty 10 Gbps Ethernet Ports)and an aggregate egress 240 Gbps cell-switching bandwidth on its two 120Gbps fabric ports 24 for communicating with the two SFCs. Otheroversubscription permutations can be practiced.

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a SFCchassis including the cell-based fabric element chip 16 in communicationwith the SFC fabric ports 18-1, 18-2, 18-3, and 18-4 (generally, 18).Although referred to as a chip, the fabric element chip 16 may comprisemultiple chips (i.e., a chipset). The fabric element chip 16 can beimplemented with the BCM88750 produced by Broadcom, of Irvine, Calif.The SFC chassis 12 can have more than one fabric element chip 16communicating through the fabric ports 18. Each SFC fabric port 18 is incommunication with one of the DLC fabric ports over a communication link26. Each communication link 26 comprises a plurality of SerDes channels.In one embodiment, the number of SerDes channels per communication link26 is twelve (i.e., twelve receive lanes and twelve transmit lanes).

The fabric element chip 16 can collect information about theconnectivity and statistical activity on each communication link betweenthe fabric element chip 16 and the fabric ports 24 of the DLCs 14. Suchinformation includes, but is not limited to, the status and bandwidth ofeach lane carried by the communication link in addition to variousstatistics related to cell transmission and receipt and detected errors.This information is considered precise and reliable, and can be used tobuild the topology of the distributed fabric system. The fabric elementchip 16 stores the collected information in one or more tables.

The SFC chassis 12 further includes a processor 25 in communication withmemory 27. Stored in the memory 27 are local software agent 28, an SDK(software development kit) 30 associated with the fabric element chip16, and an API layer 31 by which to communicate with the SDK 30. Throughthe SDK 30 and SDK APIs 31, the local software agent 28 can access eachtable in which the fabric element chip 16 has stored the collectedconnectivity and/or statistical information. The execution of the localsoftware agent 28 can occur on demand.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of each DLC 14 having thenetwork ports 20 in communication with the network processors 22-1, 22-2through a PHY interface 38. In one embodiment, the PHY interface 38includes an XFI electrical interface (of a 10 Gigabit Small Form FactorPluggable Module (XFP)) for each of the network ports 20. Each networkprocessor 22 has a fabric interface (I/F) 32 and is in communicationwith buffer memory 34 over memory channels 36. In one embodiment, thebuffer memory 34 is implemented with 1866 MHz DDR3 SDRAM (double datarate synchronous dynamic random access memory) devices.

The fabric interface 32 of each network processor 22 includes a SerDes(not shown) that preferably provides twenty-four SerDes channels 40. TheSerDes includes a pair of functional blocks used to convert data betweenserial and parallel interfaces in each direction. In one embodiment,each SerDes channel 40 operates at a 10.3 Gbps bandwidth; the aggregatebandwidth of the twenty-four channels being approximately 240 Gbps (or480 Gbps when taking both fabric interfaces 32). In another embodiment,each SerDes channel 40 operates at approximately 25 Gbps. Thetwenty-four SerDes channels 40 are grouped into four sets of sixchannels each.

The DLC 14 further includes PHYs 42-1, 42-2, 42-3, 42-4 (generally 42)in communication with the four (e.g., standard IB CXP) fabric ports24-1, 24-2, 24-3, 24-4, respectively, of the DLC 14. Each of the PHYs 42is also in communication with a group of six SerDes channels 40 fromeach of the two network processors 22-1, 22-2 (thus, each of the PHYs 42supports twelve SerDes channels 40). In one embodiment, each PHY 42 is a3×40 G PHY.

Preferably, each fabric port 24 of the DLC 14 includes a 120 Gbps CXPinterface. In one embodiment, the CXP interface has twelve transmit andtwelve receive SerDes lanes (12×) in a single form factor, each laneproviding a 10 Gbps bandwidth. A description of the 120 Gbps 12× CXPinterface can be found in the “Supplement to InfiniBand™ ArchitectureSpecification Volume 2 Release 1.2.1”, published by the InfiniBand™Trade Association. This embodiment of 12-lane CXP is referred to as thestandard InfiniBand (IB) CXP. In another embodiment, the CXP interfacehas 10 lanes (10×) for supporting 10-lane applications, such as 100Gigabit Ethernet. This embodiment of 10-lane CXP is referred to as theEthernet CXP.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the interface connections between thefabric interfaces 32-1, 32-2 (generally, 32) of the two networkprocessors 22-1, 22-2, respectively, and the CXP fabric ports 24 of theDLC 14. In FIG. 5, the PHYs 42-1, 42-2, 42-3, and 42-4 are incorporatedinto the CXP fabric ports 24-1, 24-2, 24-3, and 24-4, respectively, witheach CXP fabric port 24 supporting twelve pairs of lanes (one paircorresponds to Tx/Rv lanes). These twelve pairs of lanes map to sixSerDes channels from each of the two fabric interfaces 32-1, 32-2. Eachfabric interface 32 provides twenty-four SerDes channels 40 divided intofour groups of six channels. For each of the fabric interfaces 32, onegroup of six SerDes channels 40 passes to a different one of the fourfabric ports 24. For example, one group of six SerDes channels from eachfabric interface 32-1, 32-2 maps to the PHYs 40-1 of the CXP fabric port24-1, a second group of six SerDes channels from each fabric interface32-1, 32-2 maps to the PHYs 42-2 of the CXP fabric port 24-2, a thirdgroup of six SerDes channels from each fabric interface 32-1, 32-2 mapsto the PHYs 40-3 of the CXP fabric port 24-3, and a fourth group of sixSerDes channels from each fabric interface 32-1, 32-2 maps to the PHYs42-4 of the CXP fabric port 24-4.

FIG. 6 shows a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a DLCchassis 14 including the network processor chips 22, memory 60, and aprocessor 62. The memory 60 includes an SDK 50 associated with thenetwork processor chips 22, an API layer 52 for communicating with theSDK 50, a local software agent 54, and, optionally, a central softwareagent 56. The fabric interfaces 32 of the network processors 22 are incommunication with the DLC fabric ports 24-1, 24-2, 24-3, and 24-4. EachDLC fabric port 24 is in communication with one of the SFC fabric ports18 over a communication link 26 comprised of preferably twelve SerDeschannels (twelve pairs of Tx/Rv lanes).

Like the fabric element chips 16 of the SFCs, the network processorchips 22 can collect information about statistics related to activity atthe fabric ports of the DLCs. Such information includes, but is notlimited to, statistics about the health, usage, errors, and bandwidth ofindividual lanes of the each DFC fabric port 24. The network processorchips 22 can store the collected information in one or more tables. Whenexecuted, the local software agent 50 accesses each table through theAPI layer 54 and SDK layer 52. Such execution can occur on demand.

In general, the central software agent 56 gathers the informationcollected by each of the SFCs 12 in the distributed fabric system andcreates the topology of the distributed fabric system. In FIG. 6, thecentral software agent 56 is shown to reside on the DLC 14. The centralsoftware agent 56 may be installed on each DLC, but be activated on themaster DLC only. In another embodiment, the central software agent caninstead reside on a server (e.g., server 6 of FIG. 1).

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B show an embodiment of a process 70 for developing atopology of the distributed fabric system and for diagnosing thedistributed fabric system. Although described in connection with asingle fabric element chip, it is to be understood that each chipperforms the process 70 during operation of the distributed fabricsystem. The fabric element chip 16 of the SFC 12 detects (step 72) theconnectivity between the fabric elements and the fabric interfaces ofthe switching chips on the DLCs. To detect the connectivity, the fabricelement chip 16 of an SFC 12 exchanges highest priority reachabilitymessages on all of its SerDes links 26 to learn the Device ID of eachswitching chip (i.e., network processor 22) to which that SFC 12 isconnected. After multiple iterations of message exchanges, the fabricelement chip 16 generates (step 74) a table containing informationrepresenting the reachability of target device on the SerDes links ofthat SFC. A table is an example of a data structure that can serve tohold the collected information. Through various mechanisms, the fabricelement chip 16 builds the topology matrix of individual lanes and theirconnectivity. As an example of one such mechanism, the logic of thefabric element chip 16 and the logic of the fabric interface of theswitching chip exchange control cells over all the SerDes links. Eachcontrol cell contains details of the source device. By learning thesource device ids, these fabric element chips build topology tables perlane. Then, by finding all lanes having the same peer device ids, thelogic of the fabric element chip builds device-level topologies. Inaddition, the fabric element chip 16 updates the table frequently (e.g.,every 6 microseconds). The update frequency ensures the precision andreliability of the information.

The fabric element chip 16 can also collect (step 76) per-lanestatistics about the health, usage, errors, bandwidth of individuallanes of each SFC fabric port 18. Individual lane statistics collectedduring a collection period include, but are not limited to, total cellsreceived, total cells transmitted, total unicast cells, total multicastcells, total broadcast cells, total number of control cells of varioustypes, statistics per priority queues. Error statistics for individuallanes during a measurement period include, but are not limited to, cellerrors received, cell errors transmitted, PLL (phase-locked loop)errors, cell header errors on received cells, various types of localbuffer overflows, 1-bit parity errors, and multiple bit parity errors.The fabric element chip 16 stores the collected statistics in the memory(e.g., in table form with or separate from topology information). Thefabric element chip 16 can also perform per-lane diagnostics, such astuning and testing the analog-signal attributes (e.g., amplitude andsignal pre-emphasis) of each lane.

Concurrent with the operation of the SFC fabric element chip 16, the DLCfabric interface 32 of the network processor chip 22 also collects (step78) per-lane statistics of cells received or transmitted, includingerror statistics, over each communication link 26.

Through the API layer 30 of the SDK 31, the local software agent 28running on the SFC chassis 12 can access (step 80) those connectivitytables produced by the fabric element chip 16 and the individual lanestatistics collected by the fabric element chip 16. Similarly, throughthe SDK 50 and API layer 52, the local software agent 54 running on theDLC 14 accesses (step 82) the individual lane statistics collected byfabric interface 32 of the network processor chip 22. The collection ofthe information by the local software agents 28, 54 can occur atpredefined or dynamically set intervals.

The local software agents 28, 54 running on the SFC 12 and DLC 14,respectively, forward (step 84) the connectivity and statisticsinformation to the central software agent 56 that is running on themaster DLC (or, alternatively, on a server (e.g., server 6) connected tothe data center). This information is for building the topology of thedistributed fabric system and to provide, on demand, detailed statisticsof every lane on all the ports.

In response to the connectivity information received from the SFCs, thecentral software agent 56 generates (step 86) a connectivity graphrepresenting the topology of the distributed fabric system. This graphprecisely depicts all the DLCs and SFCs in the distributed fabric systemwith their interconnectivity. In addition to the topological informationand various cell statistics for each lane, the central software agent 56has the bandwidth of the links, oversubscription factors, trafficdistribution, and other details. The connectivity graph can also showthe bandwidth (and/or such other information) of all the interconnectedlinks 26. Further, because the fabric element chips 16 update theirconnectivity matrix with high frequency, the central software agent 56can frequently update the global connectivity topology of thedistributed fabric system to show the link status (for example) alongwith the changes in the topology.

A network administrator from the management station 4 can connect (step88) to the device running the central software agent 56 and request thecollected and updated information. In response to the request, aGUI-based application running on the management station 4 displays (step90) the connectivity graph to present a latest view, in graphical form,of the topology of the entire distributed fabric system. The latest viewcan include the bandwidth and link status of each communication link 26between each SFC and each DLC.

The graphical view of the entire network topology of the complexdistributed network system advantageously facilitates management of thedistributed fabric system, fault diagnoses, and debugging. A networkadministrator can interact (step 92) with the graphical view of thedistributed fabric system to control the topology of the system bycontrolling the status of links between SFCs and DLCs. The on-demanddisplay of the statistics on a per lane, per SFC fabric port, per DLCbasis with respect to each SFC and individual fabric element chipssimplifies the troubleshooting of problems that arise in the distributedfabric system by pinpointing the affected links.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example simplified topology for adistributed fabric system comprised of a fabric element chip 16 and twonetwork processor chips 22-1, 22-2. For purposes of illustration, thetwo network processor chips 22-1, 22-2 reside in separate DLC chassis.In this example, the SFC fabric ports 18-1, 18-2 are connected to fabricinterface 32-1 of the network processor chip 22-1 and the SFC fabricports 18-3, 18-4 are connected to fabric interface 32-2 of the networkprocessor chip 22-2 by communication links 26. Table 1 is a simplifiedexample of a table that the SFC fabric element chip 16 might producebased on reachability messages exchanged by the fabric element chip 16and the fabric interfaces 32-1, 32-2.

TABLE 1 Target Switch Local SerDes SerDes Device ID SerDes ID Link StateLink speed 0 0 Up 10.3 Gbps 0 1 Up 10.3 Gbps 1 2 Up 24 Gbps 1 3 Down 24Gbps

As described previously, this mapped information can be accessed throughthe SDK 31 and API layer 30 of the fabric element chip 16 and used toconstruct and display a graph representing the topology of thedistributed fabric system, along with the status of each link and theirrespective bandwidths.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a graphical view 100 of link leveldiagnostics that can be produced by the SFC 12 and the DLC 14 based ontheir monitoring of the communication link 26 between a given SFC fabricport 18 and a given DLC fabric port 24. As shown, the communication link26 is comprised of twelve SERDES channels 40 between the SFC connector102 and the DLC connector 104. In this example, the graphical view 100is specific to SERDES 10 (for illustration purposes, counting from theleftmost SERDES channel 40). Information produced by for the SFC and DLCfabric ports 18, 24 include the identification of the port and SERDESchannel, the state of the port, the speed of the SERDES channel, thephase locked loop state, the states of the receiver and transmitter, andthe display states for the statistics and the device. The displayedinformation is for example purposes only; other embodiments can includedifferent information and use a different display format than thatshown.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method, and computer programproduct. Thus, aspects of the present invention may be embodied entirelyin hardware, entirely in software (including, but not limited to,firmware, program code, resident software, microcode), or in acombination of hardware and software. All such embodiments may generallybe referred to herein as a circuit, a module, or a system. In addition,aspects of the present invention may be in the form of a computerprogram product embodied in one or more computer readable media havingcomputer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wired, optical fiber cable, radio frequency (RF), etc. or any suitablecombination thereof.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as JAVA, Smalltalk, C++, and Visual C++ or the like andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the C and Pascalprogramming languages or similar programming languages. The program codemay execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user'scomputer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may beconnected to the user's computer through any type of network, includinga local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or theconnection may be made to an external computer (for example, through theInternet using an Internet Service Provider).

The program code may execute entirely on a user's computer, partly onthe user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on theuser's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on a remotecomputer or server. Any such remote computer may be connected to theuser's computer through any type of network, including a local areanetwork (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may bemade to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using anInternet Service Provider).

Aspects of the present invention are described with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

Aspects of the described invention may be implemented in one or moreintegrated circuit (IC) chips manufactured withsemiconductor-fabrication processes. The maker of the IC chips candistribute them in raw wafer form (on a single wafer with multipleunpackaged chips), as bare die, or in packaged form. When in packagedform, the IC chip is mounted in a single chip package, for example, aplastic carrier with leads affixed to a motherboard or other higherlevel carrier, or in a multichip package, for example, a ceramic carrierhaving surface and/or buried interconnections. The IC chip is thenintegrated with other chips, discrete circuit elements, and/or othersignal processing devices as part of either an intermediate product,such as a motherboard, or of an end product. The end product can be anyproduct that includes IC chips, ranging from electronic gaming systemsand other low-end applications to advanced computer products having adisplay, an input device, and a central processor.

Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinaryskill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to bestexplain the principles of the invention and the practical application,and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand theinvention for various embodiments with various modifications as aresuited to the particular use contemplated.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It is be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or“comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence ofstated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference tospecific preferred embodiments, it should be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes in form and detail may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedby the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for managing a distributed fabric systemin which a plurality of scaled-out fabric coupler (SFC) chassis isconnected to a plurality of distributed line card (DLC) chassis overfabric communication links, the method comprising: detecting, by afabric element chip of each SFC chassis, connectivity between the fabricelement chip of that SFC chassis and a fabric interface of a switchingchip of one or more of the DLC chassis; storing in memory, in responseto the detected connectivity, connection information for each fabriccommunication link between the fabric element chip of that SFC and afabric interface of a switching chip of the one or more of the DLCchassis; accessing the memory to acquire the connection information foreach fabric communication link; and constructing a topology of thedistributed fabric system from the acquired connection information foreach communication link.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingdetermining from the connection information, received from every SFCchassis, traffic distribution throughout the distributed fabric systemand any oversubscription relationship between the plurality of SFCchassis and the plurality of DLC chassis.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the connection information is specific to each lane of eachfabric communication link.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprisingtransmitting the topology of the distributed fabric system to a networkmanagement station and displaying the topology in graphical form at thenetwork management station.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprisingmodifying the topology of the distributed fabric system through thegraphical display of the topology.
 6. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising: detecting, by the fabric element chip of each SFC chassis, astatus and bandwidth of each fabric communication link; and displayingthe status and bandwidth of each fabric communication link in thegraphical display of the topology of the distributed fabric system. 7.The method of claim 1, further comprising exchanging reachabilitymessages between the plurality of SFC chassis and the plurality of DLCchassis to detect the connectivity between the fabric element chip ofeach SFC chassis and the fabric interface of a switching chip of one ofthe DLC chassis.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising updatingthe connection information corresponding to the detected connectivity atintervals of approximately six microseconds or less.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising updating the connection informationcorresponding to the detected connectivity in response to a change inthe detected connectivity.